Steve 'Sumo' Pateman, head of the British Sumo Federation, decided early in 2006 to set himself the task of recruiting the first ever British female Sumo wrestling team. Only one British woman has competed at competition level before, 50-year-old silver medal-winner Jackie Bates. Now 25 women are set to change that as they embark upon Sumo Steve's ambitious training programme.
Over three months, these 25 hopefuls are whittled down to just six finalists through an intense and vigorous selection process. From those six, only four are selected to represent Great Britain in the Sumo World Championships in Japan. These four women leave behind their ordinary lives as housewives, teachers, mothers and council workers to become championship-level Sumo wrestlers. And with the exception of Jackie, they've never wrestled before in their lives.
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